XC90 integrated booster seat question

[MrM83]

Originally Posted by Dohnut

Guess you’ve scoured Autotrader/Volvo’s Approved Used website but have you tried your local dealer? They generally seem to have access to more stock - well mine did when I was first looking but that was last year.

What with the current used car bubble you might get a better deal on a new car - if you can wait that long!

I was guided to a 9 month wait and for various reasons, including a new RRS due out soon, I’m keen to make the change sooner rather than later!

[TobyAnscombe]

Had boosters on my current and previous XC60. Its well integrated and has two positions with regards to height. When its 'boosted' then then the seat is hard against the existing rear backrest which when combined with seat belt is nice and secure.

Unless you are going for an ISO-Fix style booster then the inbuilt one is decent enough. Deffo better than the stand-alone ones as they can slide out as they are not secured to the rear bench

[Terra1]

I've got 4 children 11 and under so am unfortunately well versed in car seat configurations! I've got the built in booster and tend to use it for short journeys for my 9yo as it quicker/easier than faffing with the maxi-cosi full booster seat. You can get 3 x full booster seats in a row or a combination of stage 1/stage 2 seats but it's a squeeze and you have to really stagger the seats to make it work.

Personally I would not use the built in booster for longer journeys due to the lack of head restraint/protection. You can get a Volvo padded cover for the built in booster but it lacks the rigidity of a 'proper' booster seat.

I wouldn't spend time/effort in retro-fitting the booster unless you have 4 or more children and need that extra flexibility. Typically we go with a 2/2/2 set up with the middle seat folded down and it works well.

[MrM83]

Thanks again for your replies.

Terra1 there was a thread on the Swedespeed forum about removing the centre seat in the middle row to make access easier to the back, on the off chance that would be interesting to you. Effectively mimicking the 6 seat captains chair option.

[Familyman 90]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I never really managed to reconcile the Volvo built in booster not having a backrest, and the advice from Which? magazine.

I know who I believe, and it isn't Which?

Not seen Which? crash testing any cars full of dummies lately.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Familyman 90

I know who I believe, and it isn't Which?

It isn't really about who you believe. Life is a lot more nuanced than that.

Which? did extensive sled testing of aftermarket child boosters and found that backless boosters performed exceedingly poorly in side impact tests. Their advice was that you should not use any backless aftermarket boosters.

Volvo have a fantastic reputation for safety and supply a built in booster for their cars. This booster does not have a back, but boosts the height of the cushion.

These 2 points are not necessarily contradictory, the Volvo product is different to the aftermarket booster so potentially will perform very differently.

It is also interesting to note that on older Volvos (ie our 2016 V60) the kid pack gives a booster on each outer seat. On the newer Volvos (ie our 2016 XC90) the kid pack gives a single booster in the middle. This central position reduces the risk of a child's head hitting something hard in a side impact. I am not sure if this is why the position changed? I also believe that on older cars the speccing of the kids pack also gives bigger curtain airbags.

When I was faced with this dilema, in the end I decided to predominately seat our daughter in a kitemarked Which? best buy full booster seat with backrest. This was isofixed to the nearside rear seat in the XC90. I decided that was probably the safest option and probably safer than the Volvo booster alone.

But as I said, I struggled to reconcile the different bits of information.